Note: Originally, I wrote that the "Sioux" (Dakota) name for the
Rum River was Wahkon, sometimes spelled Wakan, a Dakota name that translates to (Great) Spirit.
However, after reading a book about Minnesota geographic place names, wherein its author mistakenly
wrote that the Dakota's full name for the Rum River was Mdo-te-mini-wakan, translated to Mouth
(of river)+ water + sacred (or spirit), I wrote in some later articles, including the following article,
that the Dakota's full name for the river is Mdo-te-mini-wakan. But I later was informed by a
Dakota historian as well as a hereditary chief of the Dakota that the Dakota call the river
by their name for the lake it flows out of Mde (Lake) Wakan, which translates to
(Great) Spirit.
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Native Name change
By Thomas Dahlheimer
Published in the National Catholic Reporter.
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* In Minnesota, "Land of 10,000 Lakes," there is a large and beautiful lake named
Mille Lacs. Its outlet river is named Rum. The Sioux Indian name for the Rum River
is Mdo-te-mini-Wakan. According to historical documents found in Minnesota Geographic
Names (Upham, 1920), white explorers gave the Rum River its current name in the late
18th century. The white men mistranslated the word wakan, turning a word that means
sacred (or spirit) to mean an alcohol spirit, rum.
My efforts to show due respect for the sacred word wakan led me to seek a change
in the derogatory name of the Rum River.
Twenty years of work within the Catholic church, countercultural organizations
and indigenous communities gave me the experience and contacts I needed to inform
my fellow citizens along the river and throughout the state of Minnesota.
Archbishop Harry Flynn of the Minneapolis and Saint Paul archdiocese has given
his support for my effort to change this river's name. And a bishop secretary of
the Pontifical Council of Peace and Justice wrote me to let me know that the
Pontifical Council has "taken note" of this social justice ministry of
mine.
THOMAS DAHLHEIMER
Wahkon, Minn.
[Thomas Dahlheimer is a Catholic social justice activist and the founder and
director of the Rum River Name Change Organization, located in Wahkon.]
COPYRIGHT 2004 National Catholic Reporter
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
